Rodrygo Silva de Goés, as the footballer is officially known, was born on January 9, 2001 in the Brazilian city of Osasco, located in the state of São Paulo. His biography was in many ways predetermined, because he grew up in a family of professional athletes. His father, Éric Barista de Goés, born in 1984, was a footballer in his youth who played as a right back. However, the sporting fate of the family patriarch did not go completely according to his imagination, because he only played in the lower leagues ("Atlético Linense", "Mirassol", "Cuiabá") and could only dream of the top division.

Éric Barista de Goés' own unfulfilled ambitions led him to channel his passion into his son, instilling in Rodrygo a love of physical activity from an early age. Growing up in a sports-oriented environment, Rodrygo started playing football as soon as he could walk and by the age of 10 he was already shining in Santos FC's youth academy (initially in the futsal team). The young forward was hailed as a prodigy and phenomenon, with coaches praising his technical ability, agility and ball control.